History of Ayutthaya - Temples & Ruins

WAT RACHA PHLI (วัดราชพลิ)

Wat Racha Phli or the Monastery of the Royal Gift was situated off the city island in
the western area, along the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The monastery was
located in present Ban Pom Sub-district, south of road No 3263 (leading to Ang Thong)
and just south of Wat Kasathrathirat.

There are no traces remaining from this temple. A mini-mart has been built in situ. A local
confirmed that there was some shrine in the vicinity, which has a link to the former
monastery, but it is situated on private property and could not yet be traced.

The historical background and period of construction of the former temple are unknown;
although, the monastery is mentioned in the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya as being the
location where the Burmese positioned great guns and fired them off on the City of
Ayutthaya in 1760. [1]

"When it was the fourteenth day of the waning moon in the fifth month, the
Burmese brought up great guns, positioned them at the Monastery of the Royal Gift
and at the Monastery of the Ruler, and fired them [CD: on] into the Capital. His
Majesty the Holy Lord Omnipotent rode the premier bull elephant Defeater of a
Hundred Thousand Troops to look with His [own] holy eyes at, and to give specific
instructions to, the positions at the Monastery of the Crown Garden [D: , the
Monastery] of the Corpses of Heaven and the Fort of Grand Victory."

The site is indicated on a Fine Arts Department map drafted in 1993 and on Phraya
Boran Rachathanin's map of 1926. Geo Coord are: 14° 20' 57.70" N, 100° 32' 35.71"
E.

Steve Van Beek in his book "Slithering South" - in which he describes his epic boat trip
of 1988 from the source of the Ping River to the mouth of the Chao Phraya River in the
Gulf of Thailand - mentions Wat Racha Phli, when he passed west of Ayutthaya: "The
river provided a superb panorama of the city's monasteries and monuments,
majestic even in ruins; first, Wat Thammaram with its tall prang and noble
proportions; then, the corncob like spire and old halls of Wat Raja Plii." [2] If Wat
Racha Phli was not mistaken for Wat Kasathrathirat (what I presume it was), then the
standing ruins of the monastery were still in existence in 1988 and must have been leveled
to make place for new construction at the end of the 80's or in the 90's.

Wat Racha Phli was located in Geo. Coord.: 14° 20' 57.70" N, 100° 32' 35.71" E.

References:

[1] The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya - Richard D. Cushman (2006) - page 482-3 /
Source: Phan Canthanumat, British Museum & Reverend Phonnarat - The Burmese
Besiege the Capital.
[2] Slithering South - Steve Van Beek (2002) - Published by Wind & Water, Hong
Kong - page 386.